By SOPHIE EGAN FRESH THINKING

Lab-Grown Meat: Good or Gross? Proponents say it’s more sustainable, but does a steak straight from a petri dish sound good to you?

ifty years hence, we shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken F in order to eat the breast or wing by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium.” Winston Churchill’s 1931 forecast is the logic behind lab-grown meat (aka clean meat, in vitro meat and petri meat). Yep, the meat shown here was grown in a lab from cell cultures—without raising or slaughtering an actual animal. Several companies are racing to bring lab-grown beef, poultry and fish to market (many try- ing to hit the shelves by the end of 2018), bringing up many questions. There are still a lot of unknowns—like how it’s even going to be regulated—but we asked experts for their insight on four key aspects of lab- grown meat.

HEALTH SUSTAINABILITY MARKET IMPACT DELICIOUSNESS

Dr. Frank Hu, M.D., Ph.D. Renske Lynde Erica Holland-Toll Professor and chair of the Author of Clean Meat and former Co-founder and managing director Executive chef of the Stanford Department of Nutrition spokesperson and vice president of Food System 6, a nonprofit Flavor Lab, Stanford University, at Harvard T.H. Chan School for The Humane Society of the accelerator and think tank for and former Napa Valley/San of Public Health innovative food startups Francisco restaurant chef Are there health concerns Is more Is there a market for How will lab-grown meats about eating this meat? sustainable? lab-grown meat? compare in terms of flavor It’s too soon to know, but we need Clean meat is better for the Consumers, generally, aren’t profile and texture? to be vigilant about the poten- planet than raising and slaugh- accepting of these products. In a The only people who I think tial effects. We learned the lesson tering animals, whether conven- recent survey, 2 in 3 people were have tasted it so far are in the from trans fat. It was promoted tional, grass-fed or free-range. willing to try lab-grown meat lab-grown meat industry. But I as a healthier alternative to When you’re raising an entire once, yet only 1 in 3 say they'd eat would imagine that it will offer animal fat because the products animal, you have to input all it regularly. And price matters: a lot of consistency similar to, were made from oils. these resources to grow a lot over 80 percent of consumers say, hot-house tomatoes. It’s But we now know that partially of things that don’t end up would not pay more for cultured a recipe, essentially—it’s not hydrogenating them made them getting eaten—horns, eyeballs, meat. With all the R&D required, going to change. And that has dangerous for your health. When hooves, brains. When you’re clean meat is expensive, but if upsides and downsides. My you play with something on a growing meat in a lab, you’re it can eventually achieve price hope is that they put thought cellular level, there’s a chance only creating the calories you parity, then the real question is into what it tastes like, like for something to go wrong. need. The resource conservation going to be about comfort level. “this is what people want from that occurs in this process is chicken.” But it’s not going to Will the nutrition be the same? quite promising. It’s also likely So, why all the buzz? deliver any terroir. Personally, We’ll have to do a detailed a better alternative to , There’s a ‘silver bullet’ aspect I can’t imagine that anything is

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ART TREMENDOUSNESS July/August 2018 EATINGWELL 65 FRESH THINKING How Meat Is “Made” 4. Groups of 1.5 million cells fuse into a strand. A Researchers at Maastricht University developed this gel column is added, and A 3-ounce process for growing beef in a lab, rather than out on the fibers form a 1 milli- burger requires meter ring around it. “The 10,000 of the range. By Julia Westbrook muscle cells contract spon- these strips. taneously, and the ring structure translates that contraction into tension, triggering protein forma- 1. A tiny amount tion,” explains researcher of muscle tissue Mark J. Post, M.D., Ph.D. is taken from 3. The cells are the animal. placed in a liquid­ that “feeds” them. 6. The rings are harvested, They multiply cut and layered together with by 100 trillion- separately grown fat tissue to fold over 7 to produce a meat patty. 8 weeks and start becoming actual muscle cells.

2. Muscle- specific stem cells are isolated 5. The process bulks up from the tissue the strand. It continues to sample. “exercise” for 3 weeks.

HEALTH SUSTAINABILITY MARKET IMPACT DELICIOUSNESS

Continued from previous page. Continued from previous page. Continued from previous page. Continued from previous page. analysis to know the exact nu- particularly for overfished pop- from some investors who feel going to taste as good as a firm, trient composition of cultured ulations. Admittedly, there isn’t like tech will rule over all other meaty, pasture-raised chicken meats—like iron, cholesterol, a lot of research quantifying the solutions to climate concerns. that has lived outdoors and protein and fat content. In the environmental impact, but one They feel clean meat is one sim- eaten bugs and fresh produce case of red meat, for example, early study done at Oxford on ple answer to saving the world. remnants. I think the food traditional beef has relatively lab-grown meat showed some It’s why we even see big meat world has offered up plenty of high amounts of fat. It’s good to astounding results—suggesting it companies—like Tyson—in- examples to back me up here: limit saturated fat, but some of uses up to 96 percent less water vesting in this. The realities are Farmed shrimp, imitation crab, the unsaturated fats in meat are and 99 percent less land and much more complex. Add to December strawberries. beneficial. But we do know that produces up to 96 percent fewer this the fact that a lion’s share the cells used to grow lab meat greenhouse gases. of funding is coming from the Any potential upsides? do not grow fat cells, so it has to ‘vegan mafia’—who have one There is so much waste that be added in. While lab-meat pro- Don’t the labs require a singular goal around eliminating happens through normal cook- ducers can control the fat pro- lot of energy? animal meat—and you have a ing. How cool would it be if you files, it’s unclear to me whether That is a concern. You have to bit of the reason why there’s in- could buy the perfect 4-ounce modifying them can lead to keep the cells at body tempera- vestment when there might not cutlet, perfectly shaped and better or worse health outcomes. ture, requiring constant heat. But actually be consumer demand. even all the way through? No And we still don’t know if it’s the while more energy is required for trimming, no pounding. I think saturated fat, or something else some meats, it still produces far What could the industry people would get behind the in red meat, that causes adverse fewer greenhouse gases overall shifts look like to Big Ag convenience of that. health effects. than our current animal produc- and small-scale ranchers? tion system. Interestingly, this In vitro meat is so far away from How do we address the Are there fewer food gives an advantage to doing cold- even being available at scale ick factor? safety concerns? blooded animals like fish, which that it’s not a threat to Big Meat. We have been primed to accept Yes. Bacteria like Salmonella need far less energy because On the smaller-scale production change in our food systems and E. coli live in the guts of their cells are more accustomed side, if the research bears out for a while now. We’ve already animals and can be transmitted to colder temperatures than that grass-fed systems are actu- gotten over our ick factor with through fecal contamination, those from cows or chickens. ally climate beneficial—meaning hot dogs, farmed salmon en- which poses food safety issues they sequester carbon in the soil gineered to be a certain color for regular meat production Would lab-grown meat the animals roam on—then that and grow faster—the list goes and consumption. Cultured remove the conscience would make the environmental on and on. For better or worse, meat should then be safer be- concerns of an omnivore? arguments for 'clean meat' moot these are all gateways to the ac- cause it is produced in a con- Yes. I would call it a no- and the eco-conscious shopper ceptance of lab-grown meat. trolled environment. brainer—literally. isn’t going to buy it.

Your verdict? Too soon to tell. Your verdict? Thumbs up. Your verdict? Thumbs down. Your verdict? Too soon to tell.

66 EATINGWELL July/August 2018 ART TREMENDOUSNESS